Clashes with Taliban in Ghazni continue

Fighting continued around Ghazni city just south of Kabulduring weekend a day after Taliban fighters stormed its center in a brutal show of force, with at least 25 police and one journalist killed, officials said.

Nasir Ahmad Faqiri, a member of #Ghazni provincial council shared these photos & said that along Afg #Taliban fighters, these Chechnian & Pakistani national fighters also killed by security forces on Kabul-Kandahar highway. pic.twitter.com/cbNC4XHH5T

Defense ministry officials said Ghazni was under complete control of the security forces but at the same time indicated clearance operations were continuing and additional troops were being sent to boost the city’s defense.

#Ghazni – Interior Ministry spokesman Najib Danish says reinforcements have been sent to Ghazni City. He says fighting is ongoing in Hassan Abad area – in the west of Ghazni City. Danish says the area will be cleared of Taliban by this evening.

“Afghan National Army reinforcements are making their way to Ghazni city to help the Afghan National Police search and clear the city of insurgents that may still be hiding in the city,” said Major Mohammad Farooq,Afghan army 203rd Corps spokesman.

There is no update of information on casualties, but Najib Danish, a spokesman for the interior ministry, said that 25 policemen had been killed, along with one Afghanjournalist, whom he did not identify.